HA to offer home loan scheme to help retain staff

The Hospital Authority (HA) on Thursday introduced a series of measures in an effort to encourage staff to stay in the public medical sector, including a low interest loan scheme to help them buy a flat.

Officials said the turnover rates of doctors and nurses are worsening, hitting 6.2 and 7.7 percent respectively last month.

To tackle the problem, the HA board approved three staff retention measures that target younger employees.

One of them is to offer staff a loan to help pay downpayment for a property.

The loan amount is capped at 48 months of their salary or HK$6 million, with the interest rate set at around 1 percent and a repayment period of 20 years.

Henry Fan, chairman of the HA, said the loan scheme does not require additional funding with the government, and it’s expected to be introduced in the second half of next year.

And to create more opportunities for junior staff, more senior positions will be created in the next few years, including 300 consultant posts for doctors and 340 nurse consultants and associate nurse consultants.

The authority is also planning to create a Hospital Authority Academy to help with employees’ professional development.